This display is unlike any we've seen on an Android phone.

HTC and Verizon jointly announced the latest entry into the Droid brand, the Droid DNA, at a press event Tuesday in New York. Ars spent some hands-on time with the device, and while it’s not flawless, the pixel-dense display and body design are likely already inspiring some anxiety in HTC’s competitors.

The Droid DNA has a 5-inch Super LCD 3 1920×1080 screen, giving it a pixel density of 440ppi. This dwarfs the retina iPhone 5’s 326ppi. In person, the screen is phenomenally crisp and bright, with good color balance. Cranking the resolution on a 5-inch display to this level isn't going to make a huge amount of overall difference in most use cases, but the UI sure does look sharp on that screen. That said, this is one of the first 1080p smartphones; we wonder how many apps are suited, or will be adjusted to suit, the phone's resolution.

The right side of the Droid DNA, with an extremely low-profile and camouflaged volume rocker.

Casey Johnston

Casey Johnston

The top of the phone, with a red sleep/power button.

Mmmm, the back pics up some delicious fingerprints around the single Beats Audio speaker.

I will admit that I couldn’t see a difference in crispness between the Droid DNA and an iPhone 4S. However, it looks like the slim and narrow default Android font, Roboto, benefits from the denser display.

Though the phone is edging into the phablet-size territory of the Samsung Galaxy Note and Note II, HTC Design Director Jonah Becker commented emphatically that the Droid DNA is not a phablet. "The Droid DNA is a smartphone," Becker said. While there is still a tiny bit of bezel surrounding the display, the Droid DNA did not feel as ridiculously large as the Note and Note II did when I first held them. It's still big, but even though my hands are not huge, I didn't have to struggle to wrap my fingers around it. Still, when holding the Droid DNA one-handed, my thumb could only reach the lower half of the screen.

The Droid DNA keeps the three Android soft keys along the bottom of the screen rather than using the onscreen ones found on other stock Jelly Bean devices.

As is usual in these types of events, a security tether kept me from really getting a feel for how the phone rests in the hand, but the curved silicone back seems comfortable. The phone isn't razor-thin, but it's slim enough; if you're in the market for a 5-inch phone, a little girth in the other dimensions probably won't put you off.

The phone was extremely responsive as I navigated around the OS (the Droid DNA will launch with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean)—there was not an animation stutter to be found. The 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM likely deserve much of the credit. But we have some reservations about how those specs, along with the display, will weigh on the phone's 2,020 mAh battery.

HTC made special note of the Droid DNA's front camera, an aspect of smartphones and tablets that is almost universally terrible. The Droid DNA uses a 2.1-megapixel model on the front that can shoot 1080p video—still lackluster, but less of a skimp than manufacturers usually force their customers to cope with.

The rear camera is 8 megapixels, with an f2.0 lens. I took a couple of test shots in the dimly lit showroom, and I was less than impressed with the quality of the photos. Low light will definitely not be the Droid DNA's strength, placing it behind phones that have decided to make that a selling point like the Nokia Lumia 920, but we'll reserve judgment on the camera until we test it in a wider variety of scenarios.

The Droid DNA will launch in stores on November 21 for $199 with a two-year contract on Verizon or for $599 contract-free, and we're looking forward to getting a closer look and spending some quality time with that deep display.

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

77 Reader Comments

Are 3.5 - 4in phones a thing of the past? I know a number of people who lament the embiggening of phones recently. And at what point does pixel density stop mattering to the human eye? Has this phone already passed that barrier?

Are 3.5 - 4in phones a thing of the past? I know a number of people who lament the embiggening of phones recently. And at what point does pixel density stop mattering to the human eye? Has this phone already passed that barrier?

Most phones are 4" and lower and will continue to be. The higher-resolution larger screen phones are the flagships, and will always get more press.

I'm an iPhone 4 owner that will be upgrading to the 5 sometime in the near future, but dang, these screen sizes really make me jealous. I really wish I could get the iPhone internals, industrial design and iOS ecosystem in a ridiculously beautiful and huge displayed device.

i'm looking for something the size of my old HTC Aria... which I used to think was big for the time. I pick it up and I am amazed at how small it is compared to my current atrix. I would have never switched had the back-light not gone out.

Looks like a really nice phone. But I share the author's reservations about battery life, and I think that 440 ppi is probably a useless feature in that there's so little difference in sharpness between this and other screens with such high pixel density.

Are 3.5 - 4in phones a thing of the past? I know a number of people who lament the embiggening of phones recently. And at what point does pixel density stop mattering to the human eye? Has this phone already passed that barrier?

Although Apple does market over 300 ppi is not noticeable, it really depends on the person and eye. I believe that the real number may be much higher than that. Dr. Raymond M. Soneira of Displaymate once said that 600 ppi was the real "retina" value, which means that perhaps the upper limit is around 2560x1440 on a phone.

I think this is an uncomfortable generation of phones when it comes to size and specs. Changes in aspect ratio and/or sizes that start to approach that of a tablet and a lack of continuity in the market seems to show a testing period for "what's the right size for a smartphone?"

My Lumia 920 arrived on Monday, and being a 6ft 3in chap with giant man hands it's JUST within the limits of what I would want... JUST. If I was totally honest a lot of that tolerance comes with how much me and my new gadget are getting on so far.

Specs such as PPI are starting to become an odd fixation in smartphone land. I remember when Apple would just say "20% thinner" or "10% faster"... now they have joined everyone else when discussing processor power, graphics chips, numbers of uberpixies...

When it comes to a smartphone...does it work? does it work really well? I'll take it!

On that note the phone itself - I hope HTC has fixed some of the problems of past HTC models.

- How good are the screen viewing angles, contrast, and performance in sunlight?

- Battery life? Important IMO - all the features of the world don't mean much if the phone's battery life is poor. HTC has historically had phones with poor battery life, such as the EVO 4G and the Desire HD.

- The camera appears to be underwhelming. HTC has historically not done very well in that field either.

- Sense is a love or hate affair, can't comment on it, but the impressions of the reviewer are positive in that this version of Sense does not seem to slow down.

- Durability I have found HTC phones is another issue with past models. Phones like the HTC Sensation suffered from problems such as volume rockers that did not age well and dust under the screens. Of course other manufacturers suffer from similar flaws, but from my experiences, the breakdown rates on HTC have been worse.

Are 3.5 - 4in phones a thing of the past? I know a number of people who lament the embiggening of phones recently. And at what point does pixel density stop mattering to the human eye? Has this phone already passed that barrier?

Although Apple does market over 300 ppi is not noticeable, it really depends on the person and eye. I believe that the real number may be much higher than that. Dr. Raymond M. Soneira of Displaymate once said that 600 ppi was the real "retina" value, which means that perhaps the upper limit is around 2560x1440 on a phone.

"Retina" is a function of pixel density and viewing distance. Apple claims retina-quality on the iPhone and iPad because, at their recommended viewing distance, individual pixels are indistinguishable. The iPad's PPI is below 300, but still considered retina because its recommended viewing distance is much larger than the iPhone.

With a 5" screen, I would imagine the viewing distance is farther away, so it seems to me that the higher PPI is unnecessary. Do people hold a 5" screen as close to their face as a 3.5" or 4"? My guess is no, but maybe I'm wrong.

Though the phone is edging into the phablet-size territory of the Samsung Galaxy Note and Note II, HTC Design Director Jonah Becker commented emphatically that the Droid DNA is not a phablet. "The Droid DNA is a smartphone," Becker said

No matter how Becker said it, it still always a phablet. I dislike it when people claim it is not <insert word here>, it is <insert smartpanty word here>. It still in the same size that claim it as phablet. Perhaps Becker call it a smartphone because it didn't have a stylus. It still a phablet no matter what.

I'm an iPhone 4 owner that will be upgrading to the 5 sometime in the near future, but dang, these screen sizes really make me jealous. I really wish I could get the iPhone internals, industrial design and iOS ecosystem in a ridiculously beautiful and huge displayed device.

iPhone + 5 inch 1080p IPS display (would) = win.

That's funny, because I wish I could get the Droid DNA internals, design and Android OS in an iPhone form factor. The Incredible 4G LTE and Galaxy S3 Mini have both been disappointing to me with their *relatively* low resolutions. I don't know if I'm part of a too-small market that Samsung/HTC/LG don't think is worth catering to or if they lack the engineering talent to make a <4.5" phone with high resolution and long battery life.

Specs such as PPI are starting to become an odd fixation in smartphone land.

I think it falls in line with people who are audiophiles, etc. Granted it's a bit more mainstream than that, but the effect is the same; the masses notice no difference, but tell that to someone who 'does' and they'll raise hell at you for it.

I will say that I survived on a 'low-res' 232ppi for 2 years, but now that I've upgrade to 332ppi I don't think I'll be switching back.

I'm an iPhone 4 owner that will be upgrading to the 5 sometime in the near future, but dang, these screen sizes really make me jealous. I really wish I could get the iPhone internals, industrial design and iOS ecosystem in a ridiculously beautiful and huge displayed device.

iPhone + 5 inch 1080p IPS display (would) = win.

That's funny, because I wish I could get the Droid DNA internals, design and Android OS in an iPhone form factor. The Incredible 4G LTE and Galaxy S3 Mini have both been disappointing to me with their *relatively* low resolutions. I don't know if I'm part of a too-small market that Samsung/HTC/LG don't think is worth catering to or if they lack the engineering talent to make a <4.5" phone with high resolution and long battery life.

Yeah, the closest thing to a high-end Android phone in that size out there right now is probably the Razr M, but at 256 PPI (and Pentile to boot) it's only so-so.

As usual from Ars:New iPhone: OMG, the screen is groundbreaking, 5 inches is revolutionary, the camera is best of any iPhone yet.New flagship Android phone: Yeah, I guess the display is nice but it's not noticeable, the front camera sucks (but it's better than every other phone out there), the rear camera REALLY sucks (when compared to Nokia Lumia)

Seriously, you guys, this phone has completely groundbreaking screen with resolution that you couldn't get on 95% of laptop models 3 years ago; it has top-notch specs in every other category, it looks sexy and it runs on the best network in the nation. You have Jacqui Cheng who truly passionately cares about Apple products (for better or for worse) and her articles make for a good read. Why can't you find an editor who really cares about Android and gets excited about the latest and greatest? This so called "hands on" would be labeled a "smear piece" in the regular media terms.

I don't know, my S3 (4.8") is wonderful and I like the size. But if it were any bigger I think it'd bother me in my pocket. As it is it's close, it's not as nice and comfy in my pocket as my Desire (3.7") was.

As usual from Ars:New iPhone: OMG, the screen is groundbreaking, 5 inches is revolutionary, the camera is best of any iPhone yet.New flagship Android phone: Yeah, I guess the display is nice but it's not noticeable, the front camera sucks (but it's better than every other phone out there), the rear camera REALLY sucks (when compared to Nokia Lumia)

Seriously, you guys, this phone has completely groundbreaking screen with resolution that you couldn't get on 95% of laptop models 3 years ago; it has top-notch specs in every other category, it looks sexy and it runs on the best network in the nation. You have Jacqui Cheng who truly passionately cares about Apple products (for better or for worse) and her articles make for a good read. Why can't you find an editor who really cares about Android and gets excited about the latest and greatest? This so called "hands on" would be labeled a "smear piece" in the regular media terms.

Looking at HTC’s newer models, it looks like there’s one phone of each size, and each is offered on a different carrier. That’s really weird. I guess I’m lucky the size I wanted happened to be on the carrier I use (T-Mobile One S).

I can’t wait to see the battery tests. My phone’s alright, but I’ve heard the One X is worse, and this doesn’t look promising. Surely it’s a bigger issue than expandable memory or an extra 100ppi. And in my opinion, a removable battery isn’t a very good solution. My previous phone had one, but it was a pain to switch batteries out. At the end of the day you’re left with two empty batteries, and the best time to charge them is while you sleep, but it isn’t always easy to find a way of charging the second one. An external backup charger that you can plug into a wall is easier to deal with, even if your phone has a removable battery.

The war of DPI (PPI) has already been waged in 2 device categories (now-a-days can be found in 1 device), 1 dedicated to output (displaying) and the other to input (imaging) many years ago. Now the conflict seems to be starting again with the questions about what the eyes can perceive and what is enough and when does diminishing returns kick in. Let's end this now so that we can have real progress. For output (displaying) based on real-world and years on the market, diminishing returns starts to kicks-in at 600 DPI (PPI) and for input (imaging) it starts at 4800 DPI (PPI) although some would argue for 9600 DPI (PPI). So until the current devices that are expanding their capabilities in the DPI (PPI) arena reaches these levels I am not going to question their progress.

The tried and true device that gave these densities are printers (especially laser printers and inkjet printers) for output (display) and scanners for input (imaging). They had fought the war already and we can see where the dust has settled. The current devices that are starting this conflict again are small displays panels (LCD, OLED, etc.) for output (display) and digital cameras for input (imaging). There is no need for conflict as these devices has not reached the point of diminishing returns yet, so bring it on and get the technology to spread to more devices, e.g. larger display panels.

I think they were saying that when the G1 came out. It's a PDA that makes and receives phone calls. Which is exactly what many of us want.

Actually, phone calls is a complete anachronism if you think about it - technology from last century. We have Google+/gchat that allows voice/video calls, we have Skype that does the same. Give it another 5 years and we will forget about the whole notion of "voice service".

The carriers, like all telecom companies always cling to the technologies of yesterday because they are mortified of becoming nothing more than a network intermediary, the means for your phone or PC or apple TV to push through any kind of data we want. That's why we can't do Google Voice calls on WiFi or FaceTime over 3G - those restrictions are artificial and the market will push them out eventually.

- How good are the screen viewing angles, contrast, and performance in sunlight?

- Battery life? Important IMO - all the features of the world don't mean much if the phone's battery life is poor. HTC has historically had phones with poor battery life, such as the EVO 4G and the Desire HD.

- The camera appears to be underwhelming. HTC has historically not done very well in that field either.

- Great. This has been mentioned by other already, and is a strength of Super LCD anyway.

- It won't be as bad as those, the One X is competitive. Slight drop from S3 maybe.

- Actually their 2012 One devices do have good cameras. Even in low light (not compared to a Lumia 920, but nothing compares to that)

Seriously, you guys, this phone has completely groundbreaking screen with resolution that you couldn't get on 95% of laptop models 3 years ago

You STILL can't get that resolution on 95% of laptop models (esp under 17").

As for the constant increase in screen size, I think its mostly a matter of how much people have become accustomed to using their phones for more information/media consumption. After a while you just start wishing the screen was a little larger so you could see the video better, or didn't have to scroll as much when reading email/tweets/etc. I think that 5" is going to be the largest popular size that we see coming out over the next year or two, once you make the phone any larger then it starts becoming awkward to operate with one hand.

With a 5" screen, I would imagine the viewing distance is farther away, so it seems to me that the higher PPI is unnecessary. Do people hold a 5" screen as close to their face as a 3.5" or 4"? My guess is no, but maybe I'm wrong.

Depends entirely on use case. If you're reading web pages in a mobile browser, no; but tiny, non-scaled text? With the phone closer to your face, fonts will appear much smoother. *Should* you be reading tiny text on a 5" screen? You shouldn't have to be, but let's say someone sends you a scanned PDF with footnotes... Sure, you can zoom in, but if you've got good eyesight you shouldn't always have to do that, either.

can you read this on you phone? With adequate DPI, it shouldn't be terribly difficult...

With a 5" screen, I would imagine the viewing distance is farther away, so it seems to me that the higher PPI is unnecessary. Do people hold a 5" screen as close to their face as a 3.5" or 4"? My guess is no, but maybe I'm wrong.

Depends entirely on use case. If you're reading web pages in a mobile browser, no; but tiny, non-scaled text? With the phone closer to your face, fonts will appear much smoother. *Should* you be reading tiny text on a 5" screen? You shouldn't have to be, but let's say someone sends you a scanned PDF with footnotes... Sure, you can zoom in, but if you've got good eyesight you shouldn't always have to do that, either.

can you read this on you phone? With adequate DPI, it shouldn't be terribly difficult...

Many also would routinely take a nice close look at a photo. There are plenty of cases where you'd still pull it close.

Though the phone is edging into the phablet-size territory of the Samsung Galaxy Note and Note II, HTC Design Director Jonah Becker commented emphatically that the Droid DNA is not a phablet. "The Droid DNA is a smartphone," Becker said

No matter how Becker said it, it still always a phablet. I dislike it when people claim it is not <insert word here>, it is <insert smartpanty word here>. It still in the same size that claim it as phablet. Perhaps Becker call it a smartphone because it didn't have a stylus. It still a phablet no matter what.

g0m3r619 wrote:

These things are no longer phones. They stopped being phones years ago. These things are just small tablets.

You guys need to look more carefully. The Note 2 is quite a bit larger. Almost a cm larger in length and width. In terms of size, this is closer to the Galaxy Nexus than the Note 2 (check wikipedia if you don't believe me). Thats why the battery is just 2/3 the size of the Note 2. Its physically a much smaller device.

Which is probably why this is going to suck. Its a Nexus 4 in terms of hardware and battery, but with an enormous screen and LTE. The Nexus 4 had at best slightly above average battery life. Unless the new screens are insanely efficient, this isn't going to be a great all day device. Which is a shame. They should have made it 2 mm thicker and given it the battery size it needed.

Are 3.5 - 4in phones a thing of the past? I know a number of people who lament the embiggening of phones recently. And at what point does pixel density stop mattering to the human eye? Has this phone already passed that barrier?

Verizon was actually one of 2 carriers that got a fairly close flagship phone this year in a reasonable size. The Droid Incredible 4G LTE or whatever stupidly long name it has was a good size, very close to the T-mobile only One S.

I hope in 2013 they can realize we have finally reached a max with these phone sizes and they can concentrate on getting the current 4.7" phones into a 4.3" body. 4-4.3 is a great size and I'd gladly sell off my 4.7 when something capable (on Sprint) hits that size.

Are 3.5 - 4in phones a thing of the past? I know a number of people who lament the embiggening of phones recently. And at what point does pixel density stop mattering to the human eye? Has this phone already passed that barrier?

Verizon was actually one of 2 carriers that got a fairly close flagship phone this year in a reasonable size. The Droid Incredible 4G LTE or whatever stupidly long name it has was a good size, very close to the T-mobile only One S.

I hope in 2013 they can realize we have finally reached a max with these phone sizes and they can concentrate on getting the current 4.7" phones into a 4.3" body. 4-4.3 is a great size and I'd gladly sell off my 4.7 when something capable (on Sprint) hits that size.

Nice screen, but at those prices, there is little incentive to buy this instead of the Nexus 4. Apart from Network support, that is.

I wish Verizon and HTC the best of luck.

Most people pay the upgrade price and just re-up the contract, at least in the US. So for that we're looking at $199 vs $349 (both for the 16gb models) and you get the better display and LTE as well. You lose the guaranteed OS updates and have to put up with an Android skin, but otherwise it's a pretty sweet deal. The GN2 is $100 more on contract for just .5" more screen and a lower resolution.

I'd be tempted to hold out for one of these if there was a firm date for an AT&T version. As it is I'm thinking I'll go for a Lumia 920. After playing around with one for a while last night I'm very impressed with WM8, and the feel of the actual phone is great - finally something with some heft and substance that doesn't feel like a toy. $99 for a 32gb version isn't too shabby either.

As usual from Ars:New iPhone: OMG, the screen is groundbreaking, 5 inches is revolutionary, the camera is best of any iPhone yet.New flagship Android phone: Yeah, I guess the display is nice but it's not noticeable, the front camera sucks (but it's better than every other phone out there), the rear camera REALLY sucks (when compared to Nokia Lumia)

Seriously, you guys, this phone has completely groundbreaking screen with resolution that you couldn't get on 95% of laptop models 3 years ago; it has top-notch specs in every other category, it looks sexy and it runs on the best network in the nation. You have Jacqui Cheng who truly passionately cares about Apple products (for better or for worse) and her articles make for a good read. Why can't you find an editor who really cares about Android and gets excited about the latest and greatest? This so called "hands on" would be labeled a "smear piece" in the regular media terms.

I have to agree with you completely. ARS' Apple bias is noticable and consistent. Everyone else gets the "well it's good , BUT..." treatment.

As for large phones, they're here to stay for a fair portion of the market. I know several people already who love their large phones and displays, as long as they still fit in a pocket easily. A friend who manages food services for the large university here loves his Galaxy Note because he can receive, SIGN and send back faxes (he gets a lot) from his phone while on the move between locations.The only concern? Battery life. He often charges while in the office. Yes he is a heavy user of his phone, which speaks well to its substantial utility.

With a 5" screen, I would imagine the viewing distance is farther away, so it seems to me that the higher PPI is unnecessary. Do people hold a 5" screen as close to their face as a 3.5" or 4"? My guess is no, but maybe I'm wrong.

Depends entirely on use case. If you're reading web pages in a mobile browser, no; but tiny, non-scaled text? With the phone closer to your face, fonts will appear much smoother. *Should* you be reading tiny text on a 5" screen? You shouldn't have to be, but let's say someone sends you a scanned PDF with footnotes... Sure, you can zoom in, but if you've got good eyesight you shouldn't always have to do that, either.

can you read this on you phone? With adequate DPI, it shouldn't be terribly difficult...

Just about readable on a 7" @ 1024x600but quite blocky. Much more readable on a 4.7" @ 1280x720.

Might have to revisit this post on Friday when my Nexus 7 & 10 both arrive...